A2

1. 3. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My trailer uses many usual conventions of real media products such as institutional logo at the start and a green
certification (which lasts for 5 seconds, like a real media trailer). The music of the trailer also increases in speed
and tempo around halfway through the trailer near the turning point; everything begins to cut quicker and
speeds up in correlation to the music. As well as this, there is a clear main character of the trailer and a dialogue
at the start (usually features in many trailers to explain to the audience what is happening/what the film is
about). We used one main character with an antagonist and a ‘best-friend’ so our main character called Kai,
would not feel lonely from the start. The turning point of the trailer shows that he goes from being a good guy
trying to help his family, to someone who is really stressed and begins to show anger (for example, pushing his
best-friend).
We have credits at the end of a trailer that tell the audience who was involved in what role in producing the
movie trailer however; nobody had a specific role, we all shared roles over the course of creating the trailer.
We do not have a specific release date as of such, which may go against some media codes and conventions but
it does say the movie is ‘coming soon’. With this, we state the films name, The Trap, so that the audience know
what it is called. It is centralised at the end of the trailer, so indicates it is the main ‘centre of attention’. Many
trailers do not have an ‘age rating’ set on their trailer or poster, so we have not included one. Whilst this may go
against many codes & conventions of real media trailers and their promotion material, many of the STAs I
research refrained from including an ‘age rating’.

2. Our media trailer is of a teen genre trailer; most of these trailers are filmed within a school of which we also did.
This allows us to appeal to 16-19 year olds (teenagers) and how they may live their ‘life’ and some of the troubles
they may have/had to overcome. Most teen dramas such as 17 Again, one of the trailers I analysed in my Similar
Text Analysis, were set in a high school.
Trailers usually have reviews appearing throughout the trailer and our trailer does this with reviews appearing
and fading with the same text as the way, The Trap is presented. The way the review appears and then fades into
the next seen with the addition of interesting text helps to make it more exciting for the viewer. I changed the
review text and the way it would appear in the trailer, as I found the text formatting very ‘plain’ and not ‘moving’.
We used cast members who were around the ages of 17-18 years old, this helped relate to the target audience
more. Many teen genre movies tend to use teenagers in their films so that they audience can directly relate to
the story. Like many trailers, our main product has a clear turning point complemented with music that changes
tempo and style in the trailer. For example, the first thirty seconds of the trailer is featured with subtle music but
then once cutting into the first main scene, it beings to change. Then around twenty seconds later, the music
begins to speed up and increase in intensity/anticipation.

3. At the end of the trailer, it states a website address and social media links for the audience to engage upon
afterwards. Many film trailers in recent years use social media platforms to boost the publicity for their film and
keep the audience engaged. We did this as well as adding ‘logos’ of associated companies with our trailer, such as
‘Lionsgate’. Lionsgate are a company who create similar films to ours and therefore we included their logo and
opening ‘credit’ at the start of our trailer and then, their logo (trademark) at the end. The logos and links to other
platforms are featured with the main actor’s names. We referred to many real media trailers when adding minor
details such as the credits (at the end of the trailer) and reviews. We looked at the type of things newspapers or
magazines would say about a potential movie trailer and therefore, used similar wording to create ours. Also,
after noticing that many film companies attempt to use social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) to
boost their film, we did the same. Links to all of our social media pages, features alongside a link to the website
address. Both credits and logos also feature on our poster, to conform to existing products and add continuity.
Our magazine front cover contains a masthead called ‘box-office’, which can directly refer to films flowing from
the name. This front cover also contains a headline called ‘The Trap’, which indicates what the main article is.
Along with real media products, our magazine cover contains: a barcode, price, issue number and date. A
barcode helps magazine distributors and producers indicate how many copies of it has been sold and where
(location). A price on the front cover immediately tells the audience how much it will cost, rather than asking
someone, the potential buyer will recognise the price straightaway. Whilst, an issue number helps the buyer keep
organised with the copies he purchases.

4. Both poster and magazine front cover use an image of the main actor and make sure that the image is clearly visible
to the audience. Film companies do this to promote who the main person in the trailer is and therefore, the
audience clearly recognise who it is.
For the poster, a headline is usually big and centred for the audience so that they can recognise the film title
immediately. The same font was used across all media platforms, showing that codes & conventions have been kept
the same. On a movie poster, magazine and trailer, the same font is usually used on all three to create similarities.
With this, we also used a ‘strapline’ around our headline, The Trap. This helps to give more information and
excitement to the audience. Many film companies may do this to add a thrill to promote their film. With this, we
used credits at the bottom of the poster with institutional logos like ‘real media’ film posters do. The credits indicate
who was involved in roles and with the logos, it tells the audience what companies were associated in production.
Our film poster does not have an age rating, due to many film companies refraining from putting one until the close
release date. However, our film poster has ‘coming soon’ at the bottom, in eye-catching font, so the audience realise
that the film is soon to be released. Many film posters show ‘coming soon’ at the bottom, especially if they are
unsure when the actual movie is going to be released. You may question that our poster does not follow to the codes
& conventions of putting a specified ‘age rating’ and actual ‘release date’.
However, we used logos of various institutions and companies who associate with making films from our ‘teen
drama’ genre. As well as that, we made sure our main actors names were made visible on the poster and
complimented other ‘members of production’ in the credits section at the bottom of the poster. The credits are a
way of recognising the involvement someone has made in something, such as a movie. Credits are usually on the
poster and during the film trailer, the same applies with our products. Overall, we referred and attempted to use
many real media codes & conventions to make our products look ‘real’.